A farmer from Madhya Pradesh unintentionally became a viral sensation this week after an official document pegged his annual income at just ₹3, or a mind-boggling 25 paise a month. The Internet quickly dubbed him the "poorest man in India", sparking outrage and disbelief.

The certificate, issued to Ramswaroop (45), a resident of Nayagaon village in Satna district, was dated July 22 and bore the signature of Tehsildar Saurabh Dwivedi. The bizarre figure, though clearly absurd, triggered a political firestorm and an avalanche of memes and reactions online.

By July 25, officials scrambled to fix the mistake and reissued a corrected certificate, this time stating Ramswaroop’s annual income as ₹30,000, a modest but far more believable ₹2,500 per month.

Tehsildar Dwivedi clarified, “It was a clerical error, which has been corrected.”

But the damage was done. The Madhya Pradesh Congress quickly seized on the goof-up, slamming the state government on social media.

“In MP Chief Minister Mohan Yadav's rule, we discovered India's poorest man! Annual income: just Rs 3!” the party posted on X, sarcastically adding, “Isn't it shocking? A mission to make people poor? Because now the chair itself eats the commission.”

The incident has once again highlighted concerns around bureaucratic oversight and data accuracy in welfare-related documentation, even as Ramswaroop—quite unintentionally—became a household name overnight.

PTI inputs